


Middle Ground

by Kuro_Neko_Gami



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Alternia, Ancestors, Ashen Romance|Auspisticism, Blood and Gore, Caliginous Romance|Kismesissitude, Canon Trolls, Drug Addiction, Fluff, Flushed Romance|Matespritship, Growing Up, Grubs, Hemospectrum, Kids as Trolls, More tags to be added, Multi, OC, Original Troll Characters, Pale Romance|Moirallegiance, Rebellion, Slow Build, Troll Biology, Troll Piles, Violence, Wigglerhood, Wigglers, Xenobiology, quadrants
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-23 16:18:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11993418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuro_Neko_Gami/pseuds/Kuro_Neko_Gami
Summary: Slightly experimental. I wanted to explore troll society and biology and this is what happened. Thought it would be interesting to see a human try and deal with suddenly being a troll. Yes its already been done numerous times. Not quite sure where all this is going. I have some idea though. Can anyone say Empire Rebellion? Might get a bit Star Trekkie later. Or at least SG:A. Does anyone even watch that still aside from me?





	1. Arc 1 Ch 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> This is my first series on this site. *vigorously dances like a wet noodle*  
> That being said I'm a bit nervous. ^.^  
> I love writing and have been writing for years but seldom ever have the confidence to post anything.  
> So please be kind!
> 
> Comments are greatly appreciated. If I've gotten anything wrong don't hesitate to say something. Depending on what it is and my plans for the story I might be able to fix it!
> 
> Be warned though...things are gonna get pretty weird towards the very end! Fufufufu!!!
> 
> I've said my peace. Please Enjoy!

It’s warm.

It was the first thought. And from it many more followed.

She was cramped; squished up too tight. That she couldn’t see didn't help at all. She had no idea where she was or what had even happened.

Memories of her life surfaced.

She had always been very much a loner. Quiet and soft spoken she had drifted through life without a purpose, doing all that was expected of her but never more. Her only solace had been the many fandoms she threw herself into. She would occasionally play music too...but could never find the inspiration in her to write anything.

Waking up in such a predicament was probably the most that had ever happened to her. As it was, she hoped it would be the last...as soon as she figured out how to get out.

She decided that she was in a very tight bag of some sort, the material around her was thick but slightly pliable from what she could feel. She pushed with what she expected to be her hand, though it felt a bit different than normal. A few good pokes, as well as some rocking, and her prison walls finally gave a bit.

She was quickly becoming exhausted, but felt relief when she found she had a bit more room. She pressed with all her limbs. It vaguely registered to her that they felt way different than normal, but she wanted out.

The walls continued to give after the initial tear and with a wet plop she slid out.

She hadn't even realized it was wet inside before as she curled her body to see her prison. It looked so strange...like well...an egg really. It was white and a lot of green goop oozed out. How did she even breathe in the thing?

She was so confused...but she knew she had to figure out some sort of plan. First thing though...she should probably get on her feet and have a look around. Maybe she could figure out just where she was.

She placed her hand below her...and immediately the feeling that something wasn’t right increased. She couldn't feel her fingers or anything. She looked down and was shocked to see a black claw like appendage. A cold feeling crept over her at that. What the hell happened to her hands! Attempting to push herself up to get a good look at her body proved fruitless. She was so weak her strange new limbs just wouldn't work right.

Frustrated she let out a screech. And immediately jumped.

How could she have made such a noise?! It sounded inhuman!

Near panicking she rolled herself onto her back and bent forward as far as she could go. What she saw was nothing she could have ever been prepared for.

She was human no more.

The body she now possessed was more along the lines of a segmented worm. Fuzzy and with little pointy black claw tipped legs that had limited movement, her new body reminded her more so of some sort of caterpillar. And...She was yellow green!!

She wondered morbidly what her face now looked like…

She just laid there staring down at herself for a long time. Too long. Wondering what she was supposed to do now. She was so far gone in her musings she hadn't noticed another had approached till she was being shoved across the ground by a foot.

She acted quick out of fear and confusion and suddenly her claw legs were working. She scurried across the floor and up the side of the wall before she even registered she had done so, and proceeded to hiss at the one who disturbed her. It was all instinct she would decide later on when she revisited this entire experience.

For the moment, she was more shocked at who she was hissing at when her instincts finally let her mind catch up.

Dark grey skin, black hair, and those bright tricolored horns...it's just not possible!

Comic panels from one of her most beloved fandoms came to mind as she looked at this…

Troll. It was a Troll. There's just no other explanation.

It approached her, staring with those deep green eyes, surrounded in yellow. A few stray teeth poked out from between black lips.

It carried in one hand a long jagged sword, and more panels flashed through her mind. Colors splattered all over everything like some demented rainbow.

Trolls. Violent Trolls.

She growled, the inhuman sound didn’t even faze her this time. Was this it? Would they kill her? Perhaps they could already tell she wasn’t a normal grub.

That was it!

She was a grub…

She would have a lot to think about on the highly unlikely chance she survived this encounter. Though...she was wondering if it really was that unlikely.

The Troll stared at her, a thoughtful look on its face. As if it was trying to decide on something.

It raised its other hand up, each finger tipped with a sharp yellow claw, and proceeded to gently pet the top of her head.

She realized just how tiny she was. And then she realized just how good it felt. And without meaning to her growls turned to purrs.

The Troll smiled at that, and with a small decisive nod, turned around and headed back the way it had come.

* * *

 

So, she was a grub.

She had been pacing up and down the walls ever since the troll left, pondering over her new situation.

How had she even become a grub? She realized that her tight prison was an egg now. She shifted her gaze onto the thing from her position on the wall.

She tried to recall her last human memory but it was just her usual routine of getting ready for classes at her local college. It had been a rainy morning and she was running a bit later than usual. She remembered getting into her car but beyond that…

Pain ripped through her head and she let out a screech, slipping down a good few feet, one of her back legs managing to catch on the wall with whatever insect like sticky barbs were allowing her to perform such a feat as wall walking.

It took a moment for her to recover, slowly getting all her tiny black feet situated back onto the wall.

Alright...maybe she would come back to the “how” later.

She should really be focusing on the “what now”.

…

Well...she was a grub. And she had met a troll. It had to have been a troll. What other alien species-fiction or not- were known for their grey skin and candy corn esque horns? None that she had ever known.

So...She must be on Alternia then.

Maybe…

Probably…

...Can they make spaceships look like caves?

Let's say that Trolls are a thing. Alternia is a thing. Because she clearly wasn't dreaming. She may have read numerous fanfic in which characters who wake up in a different world automatically assume that...but she wouldn't! Her dreams might have gotten weird sometimes but this is just way too ridiculous to be a dream!.

So if Trolls and Alternia are both things...does this mean...everything's a thing?

She mentally slapped herself.

What she meant was everything from the comics.

Was it possible...that all the trolls were alive somehow?

Purple flashed in her head. Along with hints of red.

Did they finish the game? Or have they not even played it yet?

So many questions...what was she going to do?

Well...the only thing she could do at the moment was survive…

What did she remember about the grubs anyway?

For one they're usually called wigglers or something like that. And trolls usually celebrate something called a wriggling day?

She was immediately amused when she realized that possibly no grub in history had the self awareness that she did.

Twenty-two years of human memories and according to this place she was only a few hours old by now.

Getting back on track.

Trials.

Grubs...or rather after they pupate...trolls have those trials they have to go through to prove they are strong.

She shuddered.

Violent Trolls.

She was the opposite of violent! The only remotely violent thing she ever did was smushing spiders or flies if they decided they liked her too much for her comfort!

She curled up as best she could on a tiny jutting ledge.

It hit her that she was probably not going to come out of this the same person she once was.

She wondered then if she would even come out of this alive.

Exhaustion overcame her as well as a bit of depression. What her life once was...she would probably never return to.

It might not have been the most exciting, but it had been all she knew.

She turned over and smoshed her face against the warm stone as wet tears slid down her face.

The sound of her heavy breathing and quiet, distressed squeaks slowly lulled her to sleep.

* * *

 

Hussie, she decided upon waking, has the powers of a god. And therefore any shitty thing that happens to her from now on she will react appropriately by taking his name in vain! Because this whole situation is clearly him and his waste of space self’s fault!

Huss damn it!!

Her grubby body took this time to remind her that she hadn't eaten a thing since...well...hatching.

A rumble started in her midsection that shook her surprisingly hard.

What was she even supposed to eat? There was nothing edible around that she could see. She grumbled low to herself and started moving down the wall. She wouldn’t move forward with this situation until she literally started moving forward.

She scuttled on her nubby little black legs as best she could through the nearest tunnel.

It was so quiet...she felt nervous...she was still very much in danger. She...well she would always be in danger from here on out. It was a concept she had to force herself to get used to she supposed.

Still...she let out a soft trill. Just to test it out. Such strange sounds she made now.

She tried making something remotely human but it came out a garbled unintelligible mess.

Huffing her frustrations, she tried just trilling in a melodic sequence. It didn't come out half bad. A warbled version of a silly song she had liked. Images of colorful ponies came to mind as her trills attempted to replicate the basics of the song.

She continued on like this for what felt like a couple hours. Trilling out mock versions of songs she had heard and loved back when she wasn't a sentient caterpillar. She ignored the grumbling in her midsection as best she could. But was forced to pause her scuttling each time as it tended to throw her off balance.

She wouldn’t drop her guard though. So when she heard light chirrs from down the tunnel she quickly scuttled up the wall and onto the ceiling. She stayed as still as possible as the chirrs and squeaks came closer. Even in the darkness of the cave her vision could make out several small shapes moving steadily through the tunnel. They were of varying colors ranging yellow to blue green.

More grubs, she realized. Others.

They didn’t seem violent at all. Simply moving through the tunnel labyrinth in a group.

She scuttled back down the side of the tunnel. It was better to travel with others she knew. The other grubs weren't fazed at all when she joined their group, a few moved around to give her more space. Some clicked at her in acknowledgement. She attempted to click back, the strange sounds she could now produce not surprising her as much anymore.

She stuck with them for a while, as they scuttled in a group further and further down the tunnel. Her stomach wasn't the only one in need of food, as she caught several others having to pause their steps as hunger grumbles vibrated through their grubby bodies.

It wasn’t long from there that the group finally came upon a particularly wide cavern. There were several tunnel openings to one side and the walls were covered in some sort of purple carpet moss. Several grubs squeaked in excitement and most all made beelines for the walls, climbing up before ripping into the moss with tiny teeth.

She hung back a ways, observing that most of the grubs seemed to be safely consuming whatever strange moss this was. It puzzled her. She had thought the prefered food for trolls would be more on the...meat side of things. Not that she was complaining!

Her stomach let out a particularly long grumble and she was finally prompted to approach a wall.

She scuttled up a ways and sniffed at the moss. It smelled sweet and delicious and only made the hunger pains worse. She chirred at finally getting something to eat and after giving the others around her a once over, dug into her little patch.

It was sweet and saturated with water and she quickly ate a circle around herself. She would be shocked later when shed notice just how large the circle she ate was. But once she started finally feeling truly satiated she immediately felt sleepiness overcome her. All she managed to do was dig her little legs into the bare stone, before she drifted off, one little yellow green troll wiggler amongst many others.

* * *

 

Time passed in the cavern. She learned that the moss grew back fairly fast. The amount of wigglers in the cavern wasn’t quite enough to eat all of it. Not to mention the trolls who regularly checked on them were always checking the moss.

She was shocked the first time she saw one enter the cavern. It stayed out of the way, taking samples from the moss on the walls and observing the wigglers for a while before retreating back through the tunnel. They came sporadically and it was always the same few. They were all green bloods from what she could tell. Their eye shades barely noticeably different. She remembered reading from the comic Jade bloods usually took care of the mother grub in the brooding caverns. She assumed they were all Jades.

The grubs themselves were peaceful and they would all frequently play together between feeding and sleeping. She had found a little group of four greens and a blue that she regularly played pass the rock with. And when they did get sleepy they would all pile together.

She was...surprisingly content. Sure she still constantly thought over her situation for hours on end, trying to commit to memory every single detail of the comic and even some fan theories she had read. She hoped she didn't forget anything important...though she hadn't even decided exactly what she would do with the information. She didn't even know if she would ever meet the 12 trolls she had become so familiar with as a human. And for that matter, what about the human kids?

Her...friends?...seemed to have a knack for pulling her out of her thoughts when she'd get herself too worked up. The blue one particularly felt the need to nuzzle her, purring on a level that would turn her little grubby legs to mush, when she became visibly upset by her thoughts. Several times that this happened she wondered if this was what pale romance felt like. She figured they were too young for such things though. She didn’t want to even think about troll romance and quadrants! He head hurt enough from her other thoughts. She couldn't deny the pull she had to this particular grub though.

She found she'd frequently follow the blue one around in return, and when they'd curl up together after binging on moss, she’d even trill out songs. Her blue grubby really seemed to like them. It would relax, purring out a quiet background accompaniment.

She realized, one day when her blue grubby had made a particularly amusing face that caused her to chirrup with laughter, that she wanted to continue her friendship with this particular grub beyond the caverns. When they'd finally pupate and leave for the trials. Perhaps even...they could help each other survive the trials! That would be nice…

There were cocoons around the cavern too. Some in corners, some hanging from stalactites, there was even a few boldly in the middle. The trolls that would come out of the cocoons never stuck around long. And if they did the adult that came by would chase them off, hissing and clawing at them till they got the memo. They always left through a specific tunnel too. Most grubs stayed away from it. Of those that did venture into it, some were never seen again.

Maybe she should have known better based on that. Maybe things would have been different...

It had all started quite normally. They had woken up from their pile nap quite energetic and of course decide to play their favorite game; pass the rock. The rock itself was one they particularly liked to play with for it was quite smooth and round and tended to stay on course when it was hit.

They were a bit closer to the particular tunnel than usual but still well within the safety of the cavern. They had taken turns knocking the rock around, whoever was closest tasked with hitting or retrieving it. One of the greens was getting a bit reckless, trying to be silly and knock it off different body parts. One particular swipe from their tail and the rock sailed quite the distance, bouncing and skidding a few times...right into the tunnel...

The six of them stared after it, wary of the off limits tunnel. She felt her heart -bloodpusher?- fall when she realized they were probably not going to get their rock back. Maybe it was that the look on her face reflected her thoughts, as her dear blue grubby let out a few consoling chirps before scuttling toward the tunnel. It took her a stunned second before she went squeaking after.

Blue was already passing the entrance of the tunnel in front of her. She stuck to the side of the walls, creeping steadily along, the fuzz on her standing up as she passed the entrance herself. Every so often her Blue would turn back to her and chirp, before looking around for the rock. Neither of them could find it.

It had already been a couple minutes and each second made her more and more nervous. She stayed as close to the wall as she could. She went back and forth between looking around and looking at her Blue, maybe, had she noticed what she'd been stepping in sooner things would’ve been better.

She looked down and realized her stubby legs were covered in some sort of yellow goop. She sniffed it cautiously and got hints of something metallic. It definitely set off some base instincts in her though. Her mind screamed she should run.

She looked up at her Blue and squeaked desperately. Blue was so far down the tunnel already. They turned back to her and held up a round rock in their first pair of grub legs, chittering excitedly at her.

She watched in horror as a large figure walked up behind her dearest Blue. She launched herself forward with all her might shrieking loudly, even as a silly smile was still on Blue’s clueless face.

She knew already she would never reach Blue in time…

She watched in slow motion as a foot raised up over her palest one.

-She caught the steel and yellow gaze, a sadistic shark smile gleamed under them.-

And proceeded to smash down.

Blue splattered everywhere. Across the ground, the walls, her, and the murderous wretch.

She couldn't move as she stared at the gore.

Couldn't move as the wretch took long, purposeful steps toward her.

Or even when it began its twisted giggling.

It wasn't till she felt its hand clamp onto one of her back legs that she finally snapped out of it.

She didn't even give it the chance to pick her up. Twisting with all she had she launched herself away, only vaguely aware of the sudden pain in her leg. The ground blurred past her, she wasn't sure if from her speed or the tears that were burning her eyes.

It wasn’t until she was back in the safety of the cavern that she finally let herself collapse, wailing and shrieking her pain and loss.

* * *

 

The grubs gave her plenty of space after that. Even the greens she once associated with kept away. She ignored their curious looks at her missing back leg, or that she no longer bounced, and rolled around, and played with the rest of them, choosing to stay in a small corner staring at the wall for hours at a time.

It wasn’t long after that she felt her body slowing down. She ate less and slept more. Finally one day she found her mouth filled with a strange white sticky substance. The human part of her was horrified but some other part that she was beginning to recognize to be her troll instincts was encouraging her to find a comfortable place to rest.

She climbed up the wall, all the way up till she was on the ceiling and found a large crooked stalactite. The white stuff was still coming out, dribbling down her chin and beginning to dry. She spit out more onto her legs and began coating the stalactite around her with it. It wasn't long till she had a good even coat going. The sticky stuff dried to a fibrous film that was both soft and strong. She carefully rotated herself on instinct, her fuzzy body acting like a sort of velcro against the white film. She spit out more onto her legs and began coating herself in it, adjusting and weaving the strands together as they dried in the air.

She didn’t think much while she did this. She hadn't been thinking much at all lately. But the one thought she did have was that her life would never again be this peaceful. As soon as she pupated she would be on her own.

She covered her face with the film. But even in her now complete cocoon, she cried.


	2. Arc 1 Ch 2

She was only half aware. But still, that semblance of awareness gave way to strange dreams. She was so used to nightmares already, even as a human, but these dreams were so real. Too real.

It started off innocently enough. 

She was back on earth as a human going through her daily routine. Shower, brush teeth, dress, tea...For a little bit she began to believe her life as a grub was just a dream. That was, until she started driving to college.

She was at a light, there were only a few other cars around. But she felt as if...as if dread were stealing her very breath away. There was something very wrong about all of this. She just couldn't figure out what.

The light turned green. She went.

And just like that she was floating in a dark abyss.

But she wasn't alone. She didn't know how she knew but she did.

She tried to call out but it was as if she no longer had a mouth to use.

Yet she knew they were there, just outside her senses…

She drifted. Each second that passed drove her paranoia higher and higher till she felt smothered in the presences just outside her reach.

Then, as if the very fabric of reality ripped, sounds emerged. 

She could do nothing but endure the intense, indescribable feeling as those sounds washed over her. There was nothing but that sound...no past, present, or future, no color, light, or darkness, no good or evil. 

And as she listened she realized those sounds were words. Words of a language she knew not. They continued, timeless, spaceless, existenceless…

And then suddenly she stood in front of a crowd of trolls.

They were of varying blood colors, that was apparent right away. But one thing they did all have in common was their low blood status.

She was in front of them, but she was not who they looked at.

She became aware of another standing next to her, addressing the crowd with a calming voice she was immediately struck by.

She turned to look at the one who spoke, but they had their hood up. Still she fought a gasp of shock.

On top of their head was a very familiar set of nubby horns.

She stood dumbfounded, a name at the tip of her tongue, when he turned to look at her.

“Sibyll, would you kindly tell the crowd what your last dream entailed?”

Bright red eyes stared into hers.

And then, she woke up.

* * *

 

Hatching from an egg had been way more jarring than tearing out of a cocoon. 

She drifted back to full consciousness easily enough. It still shocked her the second time when all she could see was darkness. She wiggled around, her cocoon way too small to hold her comfortably. What utterly delighted her though, was that she could feel each individual finger.

Thank Huss!

The time of tiny useless grubby stumps was over!

She used quick jabbing motions with her fingers to tear a hole in the soft cocoon. Perhaps she was a little too eager to get out. She may have forgotten how high up she was.

Suddenly she had no support and would have probably free falled to her untimely death had her claws not snagged on her cocoon.

She was left dangling there, her arm sore from the catch. She looked down and was surprised that the ground was not as far down as she had first thought it was. 

She felt something in her. Telling her to drop down. A normal human would break their legs even from this height...but maybe…

She let go, fueled by troll instincts and curiosity.

They sure as huss didn’t make it any less scary though. 

Still, she was shocked when she landed with the grace of a feline, muscles and tendons flexing to distribute the shock evenly. 

The grubs had all backed away, looking warily up at her. She was much bigger than them now.

A low growl alerted her that she wasn't the only troll, and she turned. Green eyes glared down at her, and a clawed hand twitched at the adults side.

She was still pretty small, she thought, as she backed carefully toward where she knew the tunnel out was.

She didn’t linger, looking around once she was in the arch of it one last time at the cavern she had come to think of as a sort of home, before turning and sprinting through.

This was it.

She was starting the trials and there was nothing she could do. She knew it would be hard. She knew she might even have to hurt others to survive. But she knew she had to survive. If not for the twelve, then to at least figure out how or why she was even here at all.

She would have to be cautious and cunning and resourceful. Traits she already knew she had in some ways, but they were nowhere near what she'd have to push them to.

It had been so long in the cavern she had forgotten the monotony of just running through tunnels. What was more, there were multiple pathways. She already had to make a couple decisions on which paths to take.

As it was, the further she went, the more...colorful...the tunnels became. She tried not to think too hard on the reason, though she was well aware of it. She also knew that logically it might be better to choose those paths with more color down them. It might have not seemed like the right decision, those paths more dangerous for obvious reasons, but more color must have meant more trolls traveled through and perhaps a higher chance it was the right path.

She kept her eyes and ears open, senses much clearer than when she was human.

The was a faint cry up ahead and she froze where she stood. Listening for a moment she heard movement, quick footsteps and a sharp smacking sound.

She crept as quietly as she could, sticking as close to the side of the tunnel as she could. Just around a bend in the tunnel she peeked out.

There were two trolls. Or...rather one now it seemed. She became sick to her stomach as she realized what had happened. One troll had apparently ripped out the other's throat, yellow oozed out everywhere around them. The victor was currently...feasting...on the innards. A half crazed look was in their eyes as they stared blankly into space, fangs squelching into the yellow tinged grey. As much as she wanted to be angry on behalf of the loser, just looking at the victor she knew this was not out of anything but survival. The victor was emaciated to the point they barely resembled a troll. She wondered how they had even managed to overpower the yellow blood. Weren’t yellow bloods supposed to have freaky mind powers?

She shook her head to clear it and quietly crept back away from the scene.

Backtracking was a bit disheartening to her but she managed to find her rhythm again. She let songs play around in her head to keep her thoughts focused on survival.

It was hours and hours of running, her legs burned and her stomach was grumbling fiercely. She knew whatever she had eaten before pupation was probably all used as fuel during. Which meant she was running on an empty stomach. Her thoughts traveled to the emaciated troll. Would she end up looking like that by the end?

She fought back a disgusted shiver but her stomach growled yet again.

Suddenly her nose was hit with a scent she only recognized from her previous life. It was so much stronger now though. She followed it to the best of her abilities, turning down different paths till finally the tunnel opened up onto a cavern.

In the center was a large lake. She was also pleasantly surprised to find that no other trolls were around. And she felt guilty for it. Was she already starting to develop a need to avoid others of her kind? But she still had the mind of a human. Did she even consider them her kind now? She had yet to come across a fully pupated troll who wasn’t violent or at least, on edge. Maybe that one that had pet her head as a wiggler was an exception, but still.

Her stomach whined at her and she headed for the lake. It may not be food but it was something at least. She hoped she wouldn't get something like troll dysentery by drinking it. But these were desperate times and she wouldn't survive if she went completely without food and water. At least she figured. She didn’t know how long trolls could go without food and water…

Kneeling at the edge of the lake she dipped a finger in. It was cool and she felt no indication that it was about to dissolve her skin off. She cupped her hands and dipped them in drinking greedily.

She filled her stomach as much as she could without bursting, feeling a bit better. It hadn't occurred to her just how dehydrated she had been.

She sighed in relief and watched the ripples in the water settle.

Curiosity set in.

She hadn’t...looked at herself yet. 

She hadn't even been able to get more than some glimpses of her fuzzy green wiggler body.

Sure even now she could look down and see herself. But not her face.

She looked over the edge at the still water.

Yep. She was definitely a troll.

Although that hair made her do a double take.

Why was her hair white? Trolls almost exclusively had black hair. With the exception of Eridan's weird purple streak which many speculated had been dyed.

The only “troll” she had know to have white hair was Calliope and she was just cosplaying!

Ugh.

Troll biology sure is confusing.

She’d figure out why she had white hair later. 

Next thing she noticed was her tricolored horns. They weren’t small and nubby like a certain trolls she knew. And she only had two. They weren't overly big either. They actually reminded her of Gamzee’s, shorter and inverted, with Kanaya’s reversed tip on both.

She liked them she supposed.

Her eyes were slightly too foreign for her tastes. They were fairly big. Or maybe it was her iris that was small? It made her look shocked.

Her nose was pretty standard. It was the one thing that seemed to be exactly like her human self. Perhaps the shape of her lips too. But certainly not the color. Black lips. She looked like a goth.

She smiled and was amused to see pointed teeth and a significant overbite. Two on each side seemed to be slightly bigger than the others. When she put her lips together they tended to peek out. She was reminded of a certain honey loving troll.

She moved her short hair out of the way a bit and took in her ears. They were decidedly not pointed and elvish. Won’t the fans be disappointed, she snarked. 

She actually likened them more to a reptile or maybe amphibian? They were soft, smallish bumps with a hole in the center. Her hair, despite how short it was, easily covered them. She kinda felt a bit creeped out, she never much liked holes like that. She was always anticipating something crawling out from inside.

The rest of her body looked fairly human in shape. Ten fingers, ten toes, each tipped in a lethal yellow claw. Four limbs, which was more familiar than the six she had before. The third set seemed to be represented by a single green colored slit on each side of her torso. Her chest wasn’t flat she was shocked to realize. As an adult human female she was used to such things, and maybe even as an older troll it wouldn’t have fazed her, but she was technically very young. So why did it look like she was already starting puberty? She would have to pay attention to other trolls. See if it was normal for females or normal for all genders. She hadn't noticed separate genders yet, only thinking of herself as a female out of habit. What if she was actually a male? Did she have a choice?

Ugh. Too much thinking.

Move on. You can’t stay here forever.

The last part she glanced at, a bit embarrassed despite her curiosity. She looked...surprisingly female. Perhaps that part jutted out a little bit more than normal. If she had pants on it might even make a typical male human pants bulge. She was relieved and disappointed, still wondering just how Trolls were even supposed to breed.

The sound of a rock tumbling across the floor alerted her attention and she turned, jumping back a few feet and hissing at the intruder. She must have startled the other for they jumped back as well, giving her a guarded look.

She quickly took note that the others body looked almost exactly like hers, except the leg slits were a few shades on the bluer side.

She absconded quickly into a tunnel.

* * *

 

As soon as she was comfortably far, she had broken off a nearby piece of stalagmite. Arming herself was probably a smart move. It had taken a significant amount of effort too, and a few starting kicks to crack it.

She continued, stalagmite club in hand, at a steady pace. The water was keeping her stomach from growling as much, but it was still annoyingly empty and painful.

At least till she came across the body.

It was rotting.

She had yet to come across a full rotting corpse. Most of the ones she had seen were freshly dead. But this one could have been there for weeks.

It was a sickly pale grey color and very much bloated. But what really got her was the smell. 

She couldn’t hold back and water and bile left her mouth unceremoniously.

Damn.

This was not good. She would be dehydrated a lot faster now. And she didn't know when the next time she would come across water was.

She stumbled away from the corpse, a bit light headed. Hope left her as she dragged her feet further. She was getting tired too. Trolls slept. But she didn’t feel safe enough to. So she continued.

One foot in front of the other…

And soon you’ll be walkin’ ‘cross the floor…

* * *

 

Time seemed to meld together for her. The only constant became her steady steps. Her stomach even quit complaining after a while. And her body had long become numb. She hadn’t come across anyone else though. And it was the only thing she was able to focused on.

It was why when the footsteps started, despite her delirium, she was able to throw up the stalagmite club just in time to block sharp claws from getting to her chest.

Wild steely eyes gleamed at her and she lept back getting some distance before they lunged at her again. 

Growls and hisses filled the air as she parried her assailant. She would think back to this time in wonder at how reflexive she was at blocking. 

She was still inexperienced though, claws dodged her parry and sliced her arm. Yellow green splurted from the wound. The other in surprise, smiled triumphantly. But she used that to her advantage and aimed a low blow to their abdomen.

They stumbled back, wheezing and she noticed then that their leg scars were so close to a familiar blue.

She shivered as memories of that blue came back to her. 

She realized then that she wouldn’t be able to kill this troll.

They weren't her blue...but…

She turned and ran. They pursued though. Still she was faster.

She was...but she was also tired and starving.

It wasn’t long till she was too tired for her speed. The other managed to trip her and she only just rolled out of the was as claws tried to slash her again.

She really didn’t want to kill. But she was forced up against a wall as they exchanged blows. Both of them were getting tired from the fight. She didn't know how much longer she could hold out. Would this be it for her? 

No. She couldn’t give up. She had way too many questions that were still unanswered. And the only way she was going to get anywhere was to survive. She HAD to survive!

A low rumble started deep in her chest. It wasn't a purr. But it had an immediate effect on the other as they paused just short of slashing her. An opportunity...

She swung her club as hard as she could.

A loud crack echoed, resounded, and her assailant went down all too fast. She was left standing in shock staring at the other. 

At first she thought she really had killed them. When she finally pulled herself from her shock enough to to move, she knelt down beside the other and placed her hand against their back. They were still breathing. It was then she noticed one of their horns had been broken. It had once been something like an arrow shape, identical to the other one. But now half had been broken off. She thought vaguely that they now kinda reminded her of a certain horse loving blue blood, but shook such a thought out. What was the likelihood anyway?

She sighed, unsure if she should leave them or guard them. They probably wouldn’t last if she left them all alone passed out like they were. And it was her fault for injuring them anyway, though they had attacked her first. She just didn’t know. Two conflicting sides of her. Her human experiences dictated she watch them. But her Troll instincts were whispering to finish them off.

Because of that she hadn’t registered the first time a voice called out to her in a clicking language that was completely new but comprehensible.

“Hey! Are you deaf?!”

She jumped, hissing and teeth bared.

The other hissed right back, a sneer on their face.

What they said finally registered to her. They had actually talked to her! It clearly wasn’t english. She had no idea how she could understand the trills, clicks, and screeches but it was obvious what it all meant if she didn’t focus on its newness.

They looked at her expectantly, their sneer getting a bit bigger.

“W-what?” She attempted to convey her confusion with an inquisitive trill. It came out quite breathy.

It seemed like the other understood as they rolled their eyes and restated their original question.

“I said aren't you gonna finish them off? You won. You can even eat them if you wanted. They won’t fight back.”

She was horrified at what the other was saying. It must have been apparent on her face for they scoffed at her in irritation.

She didn’t much like their attitude.

“I...I don't l-like the idea of...eating them…” she said cautiously. Again it seem as if she automatically breathed a bit more than she needed when she spoke.

The sneer was back and they let out a few irritated clicks. 

“Don’t you want to survive?”

She looked away at that. Of course she wanted to survive. She would have let them kill her if she didn’t. But just because she wanted to survive didn’t mean she had to become a murderer.

She made it clear she wasn’t going to reply. It would only lead to an argument for sure. The other glared at her before turning away.

“Your death then. But I’m not gonna bother doing the honors on such a worthless weakling.”

They walked back down the tunnel leaving her alone. She felt sick and drained again.

She didn’t look back at the troll she’d downed and continued down the tunnel, opposite the way the other had gone.

* * *

 

Tired. Hungry. Thirsty. Pain. Hopeless.

Would this ever end? Would she ever find her way out? Would she starve down here all alone?

She was already covered in small abrasions here and there from other scuffles. The worst had been the slice from that blueblood on her arm. Her yellow green blood had already dried. It was freaky seeing the color come out of her. She had never been significantly injured as a human but it was just so unnerving to see any other color oozing out.

Despite teetering on the edge of self loathing, she repeatedly reminded herself how good it was that she had managed to avoid killing anything. She just morally couldn't bring herself to imagine such a thing. Though her chest now ached, the strange not purr had been doing wonders on giving her openings to disarm or retreat. She didn't understand the biology of why such a sound worked, but she was grateful for the ability. She would be a pacifist troll! 

A bitter thought came to her mind though. One of another pacifist troll who had a penchant for strangely tall waisted pants. Look what good doing so did for him…

She was caught in another loop of thoughts. She really had to stop focusing on her internal conflicts while she was down here…

She almost walked into a giant white...something...thanks to her musings.

She immediately jumped back several feet as a warning growl resounded from the thing.

It turned to look at her. It was so large it took up over half of the tunnel. It was something of a fish serpent. It had no legs. She likened it to perhaps an eel or snake. She didn’t know how long it truly was. And the most noticeable thing was it’s all white body and milky grey violet eyes.

A lusus perhaps?

It stared at her and she stared right back. It seemed to be searching for something. She was just beginning to wonder what that thing was when it reared its neck back and struck at her.

Her speed proved invaluable again as she was able to just dodge out of the way of those long sharp fangs.

Why was it attacking?!

She didn’t do anything to it!

It moved quickly, striking out again. She had to launch herself off the tunnel wall this time in order to dodge. Its nose barreled into the rock hard and dazed it a bit.

Instinct ran through her again and she jumped onto its back. It reared up, letting out a frustrated shriek that had her head splitting from the volume.

It threw itself against the tunnel wall and she was almost knocked off, Her claws dug into the hide, drawing violet blood. It moved then. Slithering through the tunnels shrieking all the way and throwing itself against what ever it could find.

She didn’t even think on how she still retained her club in her other hand, but on the next opening she saw between it attempting to kill her she swung the club up and bashed it against the thing.

It wailed something fierce, losing its traction, sliding and tumbling through a side hole in the tunnel.

They fell.

The impact of the ground sent her sprawling. She might have hit her head somewhere along the lines for her vision was too blurry and her thoughts sluggish.

She let out a low groan and tried to sit up, limbs barely listening to her. 

A low hiss had her stopped dead.

She looked around at the sound trying to see where the thing was. A streak of white and violet flashed across her vision.

She rolled out of the way as best she could. It wasn’t enough though and its teeth raked across her back.

She cried out as the pain flooded her system till all she saw was black.

It took a moment to finally come back to herself. She was confused at first. The scent of fresh fish filled her nose and her already drooling mouth salivated more. Her stomach felt worlds better too.

Her vision was probably the last to really make itself known again.

She was numb instantly.

While she was blacked out she must have gotten ahold of her club again for the white...lusus...in front of her was very dead. 

Its head had been bashed in repeatedly and violet blood was now splattered on everything surrounding, including her. There was also a sizable chunk ripped out from its abdomen, pieces of which were still in her hands. 

She gulped, taking in account the fishy taste that was now apparent on her tongue. She let the chunks go, and they made sickening plops that caused a coldness to settle in her.

Turning around was incredibly hard, as were the first few steps away from the still warm carcass. She passed by the violet covered stalagmite club, but made no move to pick it up. Each step slowly brought her further and further away from her sin. But also further and further from her humanity. She was a Troll. And she had to survive.

One foot in front of the other…

And soon you’ll be walkin’ out the door…

**Author's Note:**

> So...pretty deep stuff amiright?  
> ...  
> I tried.  
> T.T


End file.
